Moisture vaporizer system



Oct. 23, 1962 Filed ma a, 1961 A. R. CONSTANTINI ETAL MOISTURE VAPORIZERSYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet l United StatesPatent Ofilice 3,059,446 PatentedOct. 23, 1962 3,059,446 MOISTURE VAPORIZER SYSTEM Anthony R. Costantini,Philadelphia, and Anthony Di Augelus, Manoa, Pa., assignors to VictoryMetal Manufacturing Company, doing business as Victory MetalManufacturing Corporation, Plymouth Meeting, Pa., a corporation ofPennsylvania Filed May 8, 1961, Ser. No. 108,453 3 Claims. (Cl. 62150)This invention relates generally to moisture vaporizing apparatus, andmore particularly relates to apparatus for vaporizing moistureaccumulated by the action of cooling coils employed in refrigerationdevices, to thereby dispose of condensed water vapor by passing the sameback into the atmosphere exterior to the refrigerating device andhenceeliminate the need for providing a waste water drain normally employedto carry off the condensate into a plumbing system.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a novel moisturevaporizing apparatus adapted for use with a refrigerating device whichmaterially simplifies the installation of the latter by making itunnecessary. to provide a water run-off drainage system normallyemployed to carry off water vapor condensed by the refrigerating deviceduring operation thereof.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel moisturevaporizing apparatus which may be installed directly in a refrigeratingapparatus, during construction thereof or subsequent thereto, whichincludes a heatable water receiver from which vaporization of collectedwater takes place directly, and in which the means for heating the waterreceiver is automatically activated and deactivated according to thereceiver temperature.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a novel moisturevaporizing apparatus as aforesaid which is so installed within arefrigerating device that while water collected in the heatable receiveris vaporized and removed from the refrigerating device, heat generatedby the vaporizing apparatus is prevented from entering the refrigeratedareas of the refrigerating device.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will become apparentfrom a reading of the following specification in conjunction with anexamination of the appended drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a typical refrigerator device of thecenter mullion cooling type having in corporated thereinto the moisturevaporizing apparatus according to the invention, portions of therefrigerator being sectioned away to reveal the general organization ofparts;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the moisture vaporizingdevice according to the invention shown in smaller form in theillustration of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a bottom view of the moisture vaporizing device of FiGURE 2with a portion of the bottom cover sectioned away to disclose the heaterand thermostat arrangement which operates to heat the above-lyingcondensate water receiver and maintain the temperature of the receiverwithin certain predetermined limits;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged front elevation of the moisture vaporizingdevice of FiGURE 2 illustrated with the bottom cover displaced downwardto further illustrate the heater and thermostat structure shown inFIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a representational showing of a resistance wire type ofpancake heater such as that illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4.

In the several figures, like elements are denoted by like referencecharacters.

Referring first to FIGURE 1 for a general understanding of theorganization of the moisture vaporizing apparatus with a refrigeratingdevice, there will be seen a refrigerator 10 having two refrigeratingcompartments accessible respectively through the left-hand door 11 andrighthand door 12, and a compressor compartment concealed by the lowerleft-hand panel 13 within which is disposed all of the refrigerationapparatus with the exception of the cooling coils 14, which latter aredisposed between the refrigeration compartments extending from front torear of the box behind the center mullion 15. The refrigerationapparatus compartment is suitably-apertured at the bottom and rear, forexample, to provide good circulation therethrough of the air external tothe refrigerator 10, and this compartment is also suitably insulatedfrom the refrigerating compartments by insulation disposed beneath thefloor of the left-hand compartment and between the walls 16 and 17 ofthe center partition of the v refrigerator.

Closing the top of the refrigerator center partition and disposedimmediately below the cooling coils 14 is a drip pan 18 which capturesthe water condensate dripping downward from the outer surfaces of thecooling coils 14, the condensation of course occuring as the air in therefrigeration compartments passes around the coils and is cooled by thecold refrigerant flowing through the coils 14. The water collected inthe drip pan 18 passes downward through a drain pipe 19 into thevaporizer 2i) which is located in the compressor compartment. The drainpipe 19 passes first down into the center partition between the walls:16 and 17 and into a trap 21 before turning laterally and passingthrough the center partition wall 16 into the compressor compartment.The trap 21 will always contain water and will therefore prevent thetransmission of heat upward from the vaporizer 2i through the drain pipe19 and into the refrigerated compartments of the refrigerator 16. Thus,water accumulating in the drip pan 18 flows downward into the vaporizer20 where it is transformed from a liquid phase to a vapor phase andcarried out of the refrigerator by the normal air circulation throughthe compressor compartment within which the vaporizer 20 is located.

As best seen in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4, the vaporizer 20 itself includes ashallow rectangular pan 22 to one wall of which is secured a mountingbracket 23 and from the undersurface of which pan downwardly project apair of angle brackets 24 positioned proximate the opposite ends of thepan 22, a pancake heater 25, thermostat assembly 26 and a ventilatingcover 27 which encloses the heater and thermostat.

As best seen in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, the pancake ty-pe heater 25 is of agenerally flattened circular disc form and is secured fiatwise in broadsurface contact with the un-dersurface of the pan 2-2 so that efficientheat transfer between the heater and the pan is obtained, the heaterbeing physically secured by means of the nut 28 and threaded stud 29which latter projects downward from the pan undersurf'ace through acentral hole passing through the heater. The heater 25 contains aninternal spiralled resistance wire heating element 30 spiralledgenerally as shown in FIGURE 5. The ends 31 and 32 and tapping point 33of the resistance wire element 30 are brought through the bottom ofthe-case 34 0f the heater 25 through insulating bushings 3'5 andterminate in threaded studs 36 adapted to thread-edly receive 33 or theterminal pair 3133, and the minimum resistance condition will occur whenthe terminals 31 and 32 are strapped together as a common terminal andthe terminal 33 used as the other point of electrical input. Since thecurrent flowing through the resistance wire of the heater is linearlyproportional to the amount of resistance placed in the circuit, andsince the heat generated is proportional to the square of the currentflowing, then, as would be expected, maximum heat generation will occurwith minimum effective resistance and minimum heat will be generatedwhen the maximum resistance is employed.

Disposed immediately to the left of the heater 25 is the thermostatassembly 26 which comprises a metal base 38 having a pair of oppositeside flanges 39 disposed fiatwise against the undersurface of the pan 22and secured thereto as, for example, by a pair of spot welds 4ft so thata good surface contact between the thermostat metal base 38 and the pan22 results. The thermostat itself is contained within the plastic body41 and includes an internal heat transferring connection to the metalbase 38 so that the temperature of the pan 22 is transmitted through thethermostat base 38 to the temperature sensitive element contained withinthe body 41. Also contained within the thermostat body 41, but notvisible, is a switch responsive to the condition of the thermostaticelement and which switch has terminals 42 brought out to the surface ofthe thermostat for connection into the electrical circuit which controlsthe energization of the heater. As shown, 'a jumper link 43 connects oneof the thermostat switch terminals 42 to the threaded stud 36 whichterminates the resistance wire end '31 of the heater 25, while the otherthermostat switch terminal 42 has secured thereto one conductor 44 of athree wire cable 47, a second conductor 45 of which cable connects to ajumper strap 48 also secured to the threaded stud 38 terminating the end32 of the heater resistance wire. The third wire 46 of the cable 47grounds the metal vaporizer apparatus to the ground point of theelectrical system by virtue of its connection to the grounding stud 49.The entire cable 47 is projected through and physically secured to oneof the angle brackets 24 by means of the strain relief 50, and thethermostat and heater units are protected by the enclosing ventilatingcover 27, the ends of which are secured to the angle brackets 24 by aplurality of self tapping screws 51.

From the foregoing, it will be understood that the conductors 44 and 45of the three wire cable 47 are connected to a suitable source ofelectrical current capable of energizing the heater when thethermostatically controlled switch in the thermostat assembly 26 closes,the heater 25 becoming deenergized when the thermostatically controlledswitch opens to thereby break the electrical continuity between theconductor 44 and jumper strap 43. In a typical case, the heater 25 maybe, for example, a Chromalox type HSP-3 l-3 and the thermostat may be aKlixon type 20400L29324. This particular type of thermostat is onewherein the switch contained therein is caused to close when thetemperature of the metal base 38 drops below approximately 140 F. andopens when the temperature rises above approximately 200 F. It will thusbe appreciated that vaporization of water which is collected in the pan22 takes place by heat assisted evaporation rather than by any violentboiling action which would occur if the temperature of the pan wereallowed to rise to water boiling temperature.

Operation of the vaporizing apparatus is carried out in the followingmanner. Assuming that suflicient water has been deposited in the drippan 18 positioned beneath the cooling coils 14 of the refrigeratingdevice, so that the water in the trap 21 rises to the point where waterflow takes place through the pipe 19downward into the vaporizer pan 22,the temperature of the pan 22 will start to drop due to the temperatureof the Water flowing thereonto. As soon as the pan temperature dropsbelow approximately 'F. the thermostatically controlled switch in thethermostat assembly 26 is caused to close to thereby energize the heater25. As the pan temperature rises, the energy level of the watermolecules is raised and the high energy molecules overcome the Watersurface tension and escape into the atmosphere. This process continuesuntil all of the water in the pan 22 has been evaporated. Thereafter,the temperature of the pan 22 will begin a further rise which willcontinue until the thermostat senses a temperature of approximately 200F. and as a consequence caused the contacts of the thermostaticallycontrolled switch to open and thereby deenergize the heater 25. The pan22 will of course begin to cool down and when the lower limittemperature of 140 F. is reached the heater will again be energized bythe thermostat assembly and evaporation of subsequently collected waterin the pan 22 will be initiated. The vaporizer apparatus operatescontinuously in this manner and continuously evaporates the condensatewater as it is collected.

Having now described our invention in connection with a particularlyillustrated embodiment thereof, it will be understood that variationsand modifications thereof may occur from time to time to those personsnormally skilled in the art without departing from the essential scopeor spirit of our invention, and, accordingly, it is intended to claimthe same broadly as well as specifically as indicated by the appendedclaims.

What we claim as new and useful is:

1. A refrigerating apparatus including a thermally insulatedrefrigerated compartment subdivided into three side by-sideintercommunicating regions, a pair of sideby-side doors having a centermullion therebetween, said doors opening respectively into the outerones of the three refrigerated compartment regions with the centerregion extending from front to rear of the compartment directly behindthe center mullion, a cooling coil located completely within the centerregion of said refrigerated compartment for cooling the air in theentire compartment, a water collecting drip pan disposed completelywithin said refrigerated compartment center region and verticallybeneath said cooling coil for catching the drippage of water whichcondenses on the coil outside surfaces and which has been extracted bythe cooling coil from the air within said compartment, heat generatingwater evaporating means located externally to said refrigeratedcompartment and in communication with the atmosphere, and means forconduiting the condensed water from the drip pan to the evaporator meansincluding heat blocking means effective to prevent transfer of heat fromsaid heat generating evaporator means to said water collecting drip pan,said evaporating means comprising a moisture holding pan, a disc typeelectrically energizable heater device secured to the undersurface ofsaid evaporator pan in broad area contact therewith, a thermostatassembly secured to the undersurface of said evaporator pan including atemperature sensitive element thermally coupled to said pan and anelectrical switch openable under control of said temperature sensitiveelement when the latter senses a pan temperature higher than a firstpredetermined value and closable under control of said temperaturesensitive element when the latter senses a pan temperature lower than asecond predetermined value, and conductor means coupled to said heaterand said thermostat assembly for energizing said heater from a source ofelectric current when said electrical switch closes.

2. A refrigerating apparatus including a thermally insulatedrefrigerated compartment subdivided into three side by-sideintercommunicating regions, a pair of sideby-side doors having a centermullion therebetween, said doors opening respectively into the outerones of the three refrigerated compartment regions with the centerregion extending from front to rear of the compartment directly behindthe center mullion, a cooling coil located completely within the centerregion of said refrigerated compartment for cooling the air in theentire compartment, a water collecting drip pan disposed completelywithin said refrigerated compartment center region and verticallybeneath said cooling coil for catching the drippage of water whichcondenses on the coil outside surfaces and which has been extracted bythe cooling coil from the air within said compartment, heat generatingwater evaporating means located externally to said refrigeratedcompartment at a lower elevation than said drip pan and in communicationwithin the atmosphere, and a water drain extending downward from saiddrip pan and through the thermal insulation of said refrigeratedcompartment to said evaporator means for conduiting the condensed waterfrom the drip pan to the evaporator means, said water drain including awater trap therein effective to prevent transfer of heat from said heatgenerating evaporator means to said water collecting drip pan, saidevaporating means comprising a moisture holding pan, a disc typeelectrically energizable heater device secured to the undersurface ofsaid evaporator pan in broad area contact therewith, a thermostatassembly secured to the undersurface of said evaporator pan including atemperature sensitive element thermally coupled to said pan and anelectrical switch openable under control of said temperature sensitiveelement when the latter senses a pan temperature higher than a firstpredetermined value and closable under control of said temperaturesensitive element when the latter senses a pan temperature lower than asecond predetermined value, and conductor means coupled to said heaterand said thermostat assembly for energizing said heater from a source ofelectric current when said electrical switch closes.

3. A refrigerating apparatus including a thermally insulatedrefrigerated compartment subdivided into three side by-sideintercommunicating regions, a pair of sideby-side doors having a centermullion therebetween, said doors opening respectively into the outerones of the three refrigerated compartment regions with the centerregion extending from front to rear of the compartment directly behindthe center mullion, a cooling coil located completely within the centerregion of said refrigerated compartment for cooling the air in theentire compartment, a water collecting drip pan disposed completelywithin said refrigerated compartment center region and verticallybeneath said cooling coil for catching the drippage of water whichcondenses on the coil outside surfaces and which has been extracted bythe cooling coil from the air within said compartment, heat generatingwater evaporating means located externally to said refrigeratedcompartment at a lower elevation than said drip pan and in communicationwith the atmosphere, and a water drain extending downward from said drippan and through the thermal insulation of said refrigerated compartmentto said evaporator means for conduiting the condensed water from thedrip pan to the evaporator means, said water drain including a watertrap therein effective to prevent transfer of heat from said heatgenerating evaporator means to said water collecting drip pan, saidevaporating means comprising a shallow rectangular water receiving panto one wall of which is secured a mounting bracket and from theunderside of which pan downwardly project a pair of cover securingbrackets positioned proximate the opposite ends of the water receivingpan, a disc type electrically energizable heater device secured to theundersurface of said water receiving pan in broad area contacttherewith, a thermostat assembly secured to the undersurface of saidwater receiving pan including a temperature sensitive element thermallycoupled to said water receiving pan and an electrical switch openableunder control of said temperature sensitive element when the lattersenses a pan temperature higher than a first predetermined value andclosable under control of said temperature sensitive element when thelatter senses a pan temperature lower than a second predetermined value,and conductor means coupled to said heater and said thermostat assemblyfor energizing said heater from a source of electric current when saidelectrical switch closes, said heater comprising a resistance wireheating element and including a plurality of terminals projectingexternally of the heater casing which connect to selected points alongthe length of said resistance wire, said conductor means being adaptedfor coupling to selected ones of said plurality of terminals to therebyselect a desired heat output from said heater, and a shallow rectangularventilating cover removably secured beneath said water receiving pan tosaid pair of cover securing brackets and completely enclosing the heaterdevice and thermostat.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,404,317 Pieper Jan. 24, 1922 1,590,286 Davis June 29, 1926 1,678,885Thomas July 31, 1928 2,016,368 Gaugler Oct. 8, 1935 2,522,718 Huck Sept.19, 1950

